


Liar’s New BFF

by Writing_Like_Ill_Die



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (?? Sorta. She’s still the antagonist), Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Redemption, Alya Césaire Redemption, Character Development, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Class redemption, F/F, F/M, Fox Lila Rossi, Gen, Lila Rossi Redemption, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Not exactly class/Alya/Adrien salt but their flaws are pointed out, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:47:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23687149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_Like_Ill_Die/pseuds/Writing_Like_Ill_Die
Summary: An AU in which Lila is still the inside antagonist, but instead of separating Marinette from her friends by making Marinette look bad, Lila separates them by making the rest of the class look bad, so she can keep Marinette all to herself.Mostly hashed out plot snippets, not much actual writing.If you want to ask questions about this prompt or give prompts for it, comment below or put in the inbox of @fix-it-luciano on tumblr!
Relationships: Luka Couffaine & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Lila Rossi, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Lila Rossi
Comments: 64
Kudos: 774





	1. The Beginning

I call this AU “The Liar’s New BFF AU”

So in this AU, things go a little differently. Lila still gets called out by Ladybug, though.

But how Lila lies in this when she comes back is different because Alya uses her brain and immediately goes ‘there is no way Ladybug, who is extremely uptight about secret identities, would let her best friend know her identity, much less blab about it.’ And as such, Alya is set on the path of figuring out her lies, and OH BOY SHE’S PISSED. And she starts calling Lila out hard, with her good friend google. Lila doesn’t stand a chance, and now no one believes a word coming out of her mouth. Especially with how overboard Alya is going, because we know how she can get.

She’s the class pariah, and Lila now has a huge grudge not only against Adrien and Ladybug, but the whole class, and especially Alya. To her, they are the worst of the worst. That’s gonna be important later.

Marinette of course is best girl and tries to offer Lila a chance to be good, by confronting her after class and offering her friendship again, this time as Marinette. She sits with her, breaks her bread from lunch in half, and offers her the bigger half, telling her that it wasn’t fair that they treated her like that. Cause it really wasn’t. But Marinette is fine with being her friend, even though she lied, if Lila will have her.

And Lila is gobsmacked, having never been offered what she sees as genuine kindness before. With Ladybug, she saw it as Ladybug trying to make herself look better. To offer the poor akuma victim friendship, and make everyone love the heroine more.

But Marinette has nothing to gain from this. In fact, she has everything to lose. Being friends with Lila won’t make her look better. In fact, it puts her at risk of looking bad. Something like that, someone risking their reputation for her, is something that Lila, who has lived her entire life around people who only care about reputation, has never experienced.

And Lila falls hard. Umbrella scene parallels, except the sun is shining behind Marinette’s head, making her look like an angel, while Lila is in her shadow, blushing and looking on in awe. I like to call it the ‘Bread half scene’ It’s very symbolic, because from then on, Lila begins to idolize Marinette, and almost worship her. She sees herself as a lowly girl in the presence of someone so much better than her.

This one act of kindness is enough for Lila to get very attached. And at that moment, being friends with Marinette is enough for her. So she smiles, a genuine smile, and agrees.

I imagine for at least a week, everything is kind of calm. Sure, everyone else in class sans Adrien and Marinette is kinda a jerk to Lila and passive aggressively challenges everything she does, (“Are you *sure* that’s what happened, Lie-la?”) but everything else is normal. Lila’s even started meeting up at the bakery for breakfast so she can walk with Marinette to school, which is nice. The two are getting closer, despite Alya questioning their friendship a lot. Lila’s happy with Marinette.

Except Lila is starting to notice just how much the class relies on Marinette. They’re ALWAYS asking her for stuff. They always want favors. They never pay.

And remember how I said that Lila thinks everyone in class sans Marinette is the scum of the earth? Lila is not happy that they’re taking advantage of her new best friend. In fact, she’s furious. Her big gay crush on Marinette is already well on its way to hero worship, and to be fair, the class doing this to Marinette is kinda a bad thing, as some of the fandom agrees. So Lila schemes. She decides to get back at the class, and especially Alya, for outting her by taking away their precious everyday Ladybug. After all, they CLEARLY don’t appreciate her like Lila does!

Her plan is simple. Poke holes in their friendship, point out that they’re taking advantage of Marinette. Not only is she going to make Marinette realize that they do nothing for her in return, but she’s gonna make the whole class look like jerks while doing it.


	2. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila’s plan to make the class pay for their treatment of Marinette. Not exactly salt, but the class + Alya and Adrien do not look good here. However, this is because Lila is pointing out their canon flaws; Adrien is oblivious and wants to keep the peace, not realizing he’s hurting people by doing this, the class can be flaky at the worst of times, Alya is hotheaded and doesn’t think ahead at times.  
> Also, Lila in a sense is also pointing out Marinette’s canon flaws: mainly that she’s a pushover and a ‘yes girl’ who can’t refuse anyone, even if she really, really wants to.

It starts innocently enough. Somehow, the class is reminiscing about past akumas, and Timebreaker comes up. Marinette fills Lila in on what happened then, as a good friend, and Lila takes the opportunity handed to her.

“What?! Alix asked you to make her a poster for a race even though you had things to do?”

Marinette assures her that it was fine in the end, and Lila nods. “I guess you’re right. Surely Alix paid you back for that poster.”

Silence.

“Or maybe she made it up to you another way?”

Extremely awkward silence.

“She at least let you cash in a favor later, right?”

Alix is sinking further down into her seat, looking like she wants to disappear into the void. Madame Bustier never pointed out any of this to them. Always assured them that it was Marinette’s duty as a friend. So when Lila puts it like THAT, Alix feels like a right jerk. And Marinette of course is quick to assure it’s fine.

But later, she asks her other best friend, Lila, if it would really be okay to ask for favors in return like that. And Lila assures her that of course it is. She says ‘As long as it’s something manageable, it should be fine! I just gave you advice, right? So in return, how about a hug from a friend?’ It’s a cute and teasing request that Marinette of course obliges.

The class doesn’t make it any harder to point out how many times Marinette’s done things for them, with nothing in return. Lila is observant, and gets Marinette to ask for favors when people are busy. When they try to gently let Marinette down, Lila makes them look horrible by pointing out one of the many things Marinette did for them while she was busy. Marinette starts to resent her class for all this, starting off as simple annoyance and turning into distrust that they’d ever do anything for them. It doesn’t help that Marinette’s kindness works against them. The things she asks for are just as much as what they ask her for, as Lila loves to point out.

The class starts feeling pressured to do favors for her even when they shouldn’t. They try to tell her, but Lila points out ‘Marinette, didn’t you say you feel like that a lot?’

It’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Marinette is furious that they can dish out the treatment to her but won’t let themselves be treated the same way. She starts avoiding everyone, and strictly refuses favors unless they pay her.

Alya makes it worse by trying to say that she still does favors for Lila, but Lila has been keeping good on the one good turn deserves another philosophy. And as a diplomat’s daughter, she can easily pay or return any favor. Plus, Lila has been spoiling Marinette a little by buying her all kinds of fancy gifts, because Lila still has a big fat gay hero worship hybrid crush on her, and a huge allowance.

Adrien isn’t as close with Marinette as he’d like to be, so he’s not feeling the affects. So when the rest of the class tries to get together to discuss what to do about the situation, he does the same thing he did in canon to Marinette and pressures them to take the high road. After all, she’s not hurting anyone. Plus, Marinette is so much happier now that she isn’t constantly rushing to get all those favors done!

Youch.


	3. Of Character Development and Consequences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is being forced to grow as people thanks to Lila’s manipulations. Some take it better than others. In the meantime, Lila gets a miraculous, and cleans up the mess that is the career and plans of an overwhelmed fourteen year old superhero in spotted spandex.

The rest of the class is forced to undergo character development so they can prove to Marinette that they’re worth spending time with. Meanwhile Alya and Adrien end up being rivals to each other as they fight passivity versus aggression

And they both have to learn from Nino and each other to have a balance of both. You can’t always go guns blazing into every situation, but you can’t stand for nothing, either.

Nino on his hand is forced to face reality, become a leader figure in the absence of Marinette, since Adrien and Alya are busy being petty ass bitches, and learn to stop sticking his head in the sand when things get messy.

Oh and Chloé doesn’t care what Marinette thinks but is extremely impressed with her backbone and— oh who is she kidding, Chloé is begging her for ‘Decent Person’ lessons after Marinette sticks up for herself because she wants to be better for Ladybug but doesn’t want to be ‘decent’ like Marinette used to be, where she caved for everyone.

TLDR Chloé wants Marinette to teach her how to be a decent person and how to know when and when not to call someone out

anyway alya does not get the fox. nino manages to make up for his stuff quickly though, and he still gets the turtle.

Marinette needs someone she can rely on, though, and who better than her new best friend?

That’s right baby! Volpina for real!

volpina 2.0, now called Amichevolpe (a pun on ‘volpe amichevole’ or ‘friendly fox’) and carapace fall over each other trying to help ladybug but they soon learn to work together.

Lila is resistant at first to ladybug’s offer, demanding to know why she was chosen. Ladybug says that Marinette gave her a stellar recommendation.

Lila agrees to work with Ladybug, but not before being very protective over Marinette and basically saying ‘Mari deals with enough bullshit as it is and I might be willing to put our differences aside so I can be good for her, but i swear to god if you even try to hurt her I will put you in the ground, Ladybug.’

Marinette underneath the mask is strangely flattered.

Amichevolpe is extremely professional, surprisingly, always focused on the mission, though she does throw out a few wisecracks. She’s harsh on chat though, always reprimanding him when he’s too busy focusing on Ladybug to focus on the fight. And the worst part is that she blowd up at him after he accuses her of being in love with Ladybug that she has no interest in Ladybug, she actually doesn’t like her very much all, and she only agreed to become to fox hero to protect Marinette from that stupid moth! This is the first time we see Lila genuinely, uncontrollably angry, with no manipulations involved. Chat is still fuming and tells her that ‘Marinette doesn’t need protecting, and certainly not from *you*’

Strangely angry as well, Ladybug breaks them up, reprimands chat, and goes off with Amichevolpe to calm her down from her rage. Ladybug wiggles her way from ‘main rival’ down to ‘frenemy’ on Lila’s shitlist, and Chat Noir wiggles his way up, landing right below Alya and above Adrien in the #2 spot.

Amichevolpe is. Surprisingly a good influence. She knows how to act under pressure, how to get things done. She’s full of ideas for helping Ladybug get an upper hand on hawkmoth. For example, she insists that she call on her, carapace, and viperion more often, so there’s less a risk of her having to be on her own, with how many times Chat gets incapacitated. Ladybug relents, and as it turns out, five heads are a lot better than two (and a lot of times just one). Another idea is that they train and spar together so often, in order to make sure they’re ready for anything. That helps too, especially with ladybug knowing self defense, viperion and ladybug both knowing calming tips to prevent akumatization, and even Amichevolpe having tips for dealing with akumas while in civilian forms. Ladybug gives her a look later, alone, asking ‘how do you know all about that?’

Lila shrugs. ‘Daughter of diplomats. Gotta be prepared for terrorists, I guess.’

luka and lila are definitely competing for marinette's affection, but lila sees that luka isn't like the rest of the class, and decides to fight fair, instead of ruining his reputation and potentially breaking marinette's heart. 

anyway with marinette feeling more secure with lila and luka, listening to Amichevolpe’s advice, and being not so overwhelmed with everything, she starts to rely on viperion, carapace, and amichevolpe more. On top of that, the media has been cleaned up thanks to Amichevolpe (more on that in another chapter), and everyone knows for a fact now what the heroes are like, and that ladybug and chat aren’t a couple. The media, in fact, is starting to push char aside at times. The spotlight is no longer on him. In posters and art, it’s now starting to portray Ladybug and Amichevolpe together, as professional heroine partners, while Chat is often off in the side, staring up at ladybug with cartoony hearts in his eyes, or not there at all. In other words, he’s been reduced to just his crush, and it’s kinda his fault, because that’s basically all he gives people besides puns. He doesn’t act like a hero, so now he’s starting to not be taken seriously.

chat is not pleased with this, obviously, and when Ladybug announces that Amichevolpe will be keeping her miraculous permanently and chooses this time to throw an infamous syren-sized hissy fit.

it's not exactly all his fault that he flips out; we all know that adrien is awful with processing his emotions, but this whole time he's been the overwhelmed one; his friends are fighting, marinette isnt speaking with them and that breaks his heart for reasons hes even worse at processing (cough HE LOVES HER cough), and hes basically being given the same treatment that marinette is given in canon: being forced to take responsibility for EVERYTHING. Not to mention that the consequences of some of his more questionable actions are coming back to haunt him. so having a tantrum is pretty understandable. but it doesnt make him look any better. and volpina, who of course hates chat for several different reasons by now, sinks her claws in, making chat look horrible. So Ladybug basically says 'alright, this is the second time you've pulled this shit. one more time, and i'm going to have to find a permanent solution to this.' 

This will then serve as Adrien's wake up call, and the moment where his character development really kicks off. Because now he has a true motivation; he's gotta better himself, or risk losing ladybug and his place as chat noir.


	4. Drabble: Salt Fic September Repost #1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rewrite of the first chapter I did in Salt Fic September of this AU!
> 
> As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for this au, comment them and I may write them!

Lila was... miserable. Public school was weird and stupid and she hated it. But it didn’t matter, because her mom wouldn’t pay any attention to it anyway. This stupid pond scum class had thrown her to the bottom of the popularity rung while acting so terrible themselves!! Declaring falsities as truth, knowingly enabling friends to act terrible, dangerous bets— All of it would make your status fall. Lila knew this very well. Her mother moved her around enough that she had seen what private schools were like. That's why she started lying, anyway. Because that's just what you did. Every private school was full of rich kids bragging about whatever cool things they did. When she was little, they bullied her for not having any stories of her amazing life. It wasn't that she was rich, it was that her mother never had time for her. Never cared to do amazing things with her. Never cared to give these kinds of opportunities.  
  
As a little girl, Lila had done everything she could to make her mother notice her. When she was a little girl, she loved writing stories in a journal. She wrote fantasy stories, about amazing heroes rescuing lonely little girls. The girls all had different names, but it was obvious to anyone who read them that they were all Lila. Because little Lila wanted someone's attention, anyone's attention. She couldn't stand it anymore, being ignored, being left alone, being lied to as her mother broke promise after promise. People made fun of her for her lack of amazing stories to tell about her life. They made fun of her for writing fantasy stories and superheroes. No one wanted to hear those stories. They wanted to know about the people she knew, the people she met, the things she'd done. And Lila had gotten sick of it. So she burned all her journals, and started writing a different brand of stories. And for once, she got attention. She learned the way people worked. She learned the way people in private schools worked. All she had to do to get their attention was tell them what they wanted to hear. And that's what she wanted most. Someone's attention. Because that lonely little girl was still inside her.

But Lila had realized too late that these idiots were different than most private school people. They didn’t care about status. She could hear the whispers about the ‘akuma class’ now. The entire school saw them as a sort of cult, with a few good eggs stuck in it. These idiots could push Lila around because they themselves had nothing to lose. And the rest of the school couldn't even do anything, because their principal had the backbone of a soggy noodle and Caline Bustier got whatever she wanted, no matter how ridiculous. The fact that she was so against punishment was probably why these terrible people got dumped in her class year after year. It was probably also why they'd gotten so terrible. She heard how much the other students hated, no, despised this class, how much they wanted to save the good people stuck in it, but they had learned the hard way that it was a futile battle. It was terrifying and infuriating all at once, especially because Lila knew that she didn't have the power to do anything about it either. She wasn't even a good person and she just wanted to--

Then someone sat next to her. Lila looked up, confused. Why would someone sit with her?! She was basically a social pariah now! A girl with pigtails was holding a piece of bread, smiling at her. “Hi! Um, I just wanted to say that I think Alya was way too hard on you. Even if you did lie, she didn’t have the right to say all those things about you!! And... if you really want a friend...” She smiled and broke the bread in half. She offered the bigger half to Lila. “Well, I’m Marinette, and if you’ll have me, I’ll be your friend!”

The light shined onto her hair, making her look angelic. Lila's anger faded away, replaced with utter awe. There was no reason to sit with her. No reason to care about her. No reason to offer her friendship. In all the private schools she'd been to, it was all about what made you look good. That's why she despised Ladybug. Because she only offered her help to Lila because it would make her look like a saint. But this girl... This Marinette...

Lila stood no chance against this girl who had so much to lose from talking to her, and yet did it anyway, throwing her reputation to the curbside like it didn't matter to her at all.. In the shadow of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Lila Rossi fell in love.

“...Sure.” Lila smiled, genuinely for the first time in years. Her cheeks colored, and she took the half of bread. “Let’s be friends, Marinette.”

—

Marinette was... exhausted.

Even though Lila walked her to school now, class itself was still a struggle. Marinette’s friends wanted so much, and she was simply running out of supplies and motivation. They wanted food, clothes, art, cookies, other treats, other art, anything they thought she could do. Maybe they just didn't realize how much they were asking for, especially collectively. And she didn't want to sound greddy, but she really would prefer to be paid... It was harder to fulfill her requests when she didn't have the money to buy supplies for it. Fortunately, Lila had been a wonderful friend so far, giving her some of her ridiculous allowance for craft and design supplies, but her classmates’ demands kept coming in, and her inspiration kept going down. She was overworked, and she knew she was, because Lila pointed it out, tried to insist she take a break, but she couldn't! Not when her friends were counting on her. But it really, really wore her out. She was so tired that day that she just zoned out next to Lila. Miss Bustier wasn’t really teaching today anyway, as she sometimes did, giving the class ‘free days.’

The class was talking about Akumas, completely oblivious to Marinette’s stress-induced dissociation. Lila had threaded their fingers together, trying to keep her grounded as she passively listened to this dumb class brag about their akumazations like it was a funny joke and not traumatic for most involved.

Honestly, their held hands was as much for Marinette's sake as it was for hers. The way they were so inconsiderate of her Marinette was infuriating to Lila. None of them deserved her friendship. None of them even deserved to LOOK at her, or to even BREATHE in Marinette's presence. They treated her like she was a machine, cranking out things they wanted on demand, not even thinking of her well-being. It was sickening. This class... they were the worst of the worst. She knew that for a fact, because she was only a level above them when it came to being terrible.

They were talking about Timebreaker. About how Marinette had to make a banner for Alix, attend the race, AND be there to give an order to a customer. Or, they mentioned it. It was obvious that they didn’t care. But Lila did. An idea came to mind, and she smirked evilly internally.

“Wow, Mari!” She said loudly, making her bestie jolt to awareness. “It must have been hard to make a poster AND be there to hold it AND to also make a delivery! Surely Alix tipped you big time, right?”

Awkward silence. In her mind, Lila danced with glee. Outside, she looked innocently concerned, as Marinette slowly shook her head.

“Oh... well money can be hard for some people!” At Lila’s words, Alix winced, knowing that wasn’t true and she DID have the money. “Hey, But she must have let you cash in a favor later, right?” 

More awkward silence. Alix looked like she wanted to sink into the ground. 

“Well... she’s done the same for you, right? This must has been payback!” 

The entire class was staring at a humiliated Alix as her selfishness was put on display. Little did they know that they wouldn’t be the only ones.   
  
And after class...

"Lila..." Marinette spoke up, shyly, as they walked home together, like usual. They were holding hands, as always. Lila turned to her, attentive as always, nodding to let her know she was listening. It made Marinette feel a little flustered. It was rare that someone really listened to her and paid full attention to her. Her class was usually focused on others things, didn't have time to pay attention to her. She hoped this wasn't a mistake to say. "Is it... really okay to ask for favors in return? Like what you said earlier, to Alix..."  
  
"Of course!! I mean, as long as it's manageable, right? I mean, just ask for the same level they ask from you, right?" She said, innocently. "For example, I just gave you advise, right? How about a hug from a friend?" It's cute and teasing. It makes her chest feel light and fluttery. So Marinette does her one better, and kisses her cheek before hugging her tightly. And if Lila's face is burning red the rest of the way home, Marinette doesn't say anything, because her cheeks are burning pink.

— 

Indeed, Lila had the eyes of a hawk. She could spot unfairness from a mile away. Over a month of her being there she had already made the class face their past actions, making them look like terrible people. And maybe they were. 

Bustier tried to stop Lila, tried to punish Marinette, but Bustier was an enabler through and through. An empty mention of her mother and Bustier folded. 

Lila raised Marinette’s self confidence, said again and again that it was okay to ask for money in exchange for her goods. She deserved it. She earned it. And if they were really her friends, they would understand. 

Alya then made it a hobby to stick her foot in her mouth. She fought back, spitting delusions that they DESERVED free clothes, free dresses, free pastries, free everything. And that’s when Marinette ended their friendship. 

“You all see me as nothing but my gifts! I want to friends with people who love me unconditionally, no matter if I can’t give them what they want! Like Lila!” She had yelled at the class, betrayed by Alya’s outburst. Lila suppressed a smile as Marinette cried into her arms. 

It might hurt now, but Marinette could find other friends. Better friends. People who would treat her well and love her dearly, just like Lila did. For now, Lila had won. Marinette was giving her class the cold shoulder. She thought Miss Bustier was the worst. And without Marinette there to cater to her every need, the class fell apart. 

Marinette and Lila thrived, as Lila paid for every favor, was always in favor of ‘one good turn deserved another.’ 

Lila saw how they rallied. But it was no use. She and Marinette held hands as they walked to class. 

“Well, Lucifer shouldn’t be kept waiting.” Marinette joked. Whether she was referring to Bustier or Alya or the class as whole, Lila didn’t know. And she didn’t care, either.


End file.
